1. It strikes me that Narrated PowerPoints would be very useful for lessons on days when a substitute teacher was in the classroom. One could build up a library over time of short lessons that could be used by the substitute, in addition to other materials accompanying the Narrated PowerPoints.
2. I am also a firm believer in sharing learning objectives with parents and students---or at least making them available.
One way might be to created Narrated PowerPoints for each unit, and post them on the class website.
One could list learning objectives and show their alignment with state standards (and even national science standards or benchmarks), and with the assessments that are used to determine grades. One could list activities, readings, labs, experiments, worksheets, and available Narrated PowerPoints for each unit.
By doing this, one is better able to communicate precisely what is being taught and what is supposed to be learned. I know from monitoring my own kids' science classes, that there have been times when I certainly have wished that teachers were doing these kinds of things, so that I could better monitor what was going on in their science classes.
Having such materials available would go a long way toward establishing effective teacher/parent communication, and allow better support by parents.
Being open, up front, and very transparent about science and what happens in science has the potential to increase support of science in the wider society. Even more important, developing better communication with parents and the public generally is necessary given the current climate of high-stakes testing, where teachers are being fired if their value-added assessment scores are not good enough. (I'll ignore, for the moment, the fact that value added assessment has been improperly used in places such as D.C. and New York.)
In any case, there is widespread teacher bashing in our society. If we are to counteract teacher bashing and combat inappropriate assessment of teachers, then we need to do everything we can as teachers to show and document what students knew before instruction, what they are being taught, and what they have succeeded in learning through instruction.
I really like your suggestion of having the power-points for days with substitutes and also as a way to show the parents what is being taught in our classrooms.
ReplyDeleteI, too, like your suggestions. It very difficult finding a substitute that can continue your work in upper level science classes, like chemistry and physics. This would provide a good solution to trying to leave lessons that someone without this depth of knowledge could use and students would be ready for the next step upon your return. However, the downside is the amount of time involved in amassing this library of presentations.
ReplyDeleteMaking the presentations avaliable to parents is a great way to connect the classroom with home. Also, it provides parents with some content knowledge to discuss homework, assignments, and assessments.